


The Proposal

by TCG



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Engagement, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, No Plot/Plotless, Wedding Rings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-25
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-11-05 13:02:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17919278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TCG/pseuds/TCG
Summary: Keishin had been thinking about marriage for a long time.(a possible epilogue toFlock Together)





	The Proposal

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ixiblitz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ixiblitz/gifts).



_My heart is the autumn moon_  
_clear and white in a green pool._  
_No, nothing else is like it._  
_How can I make you understand?_

_-Han Shan_

 

Keishin had been thinking about marriage for a long time.

It was hard not to, when you lived here. Parents would tease their children about their future weddings, and when Keishin was little they would play by acting out marriage ceremonies, pretending to drink from plastic cups and throwing daffodils at each other. It was meaningless then, little nods to some future that didn’t make sense yet.

Later, when Keishin realized he was gay, marriage had taken on a different meaning. It had become a looming specter in his future, a family obligation that he would either fulfill with empty motions or avoid and break his family’s hearts. His 20s had been riddled with his parents and older folks in the community trying to set him up with women near and far. He could never even bring himself to feign interest. In his darker moments, when friends began to boast of their happy wives and families, marriage felt like a cruel joke the world had played on him.

And then, he’d met Ittetsu. Bold, charming, clever Ittetsu. Keishin has fallen in love as soon as he’d gotten to know the man. And, for reasons that still seemed mysterious, it had turned out that Ittetsu loved him back.

That was five years ago. Keishin was 30 now. He’d long come out to friends and family. He and Ittetsu moved in together a few years ago, letting the town make of it whatever they would. He woke up every day next to the man he loved.

He was happy.

Keishin tapped his fingers on the desk of the farm office. The equipment ledger sat in front on him, his father’s handwriting stubbornly difficult to read. He squinted at a line, then typed it into the computer. Just one more page and he’d be done digitizing their records.

He bit his lip and glanced at the clock. There was still a little time before he had to leave to meet Ittetsu.

He minimized the spreadsheet window. The web browser was still open to his search from earlier.

Wedding rings.

Dozens of wedding rings shone on the page, each claiming something unique. Fingerprints, phases of the moon, star maps, wood from special trees, the world’s hardest metals, thick gold bands inlaid with diamonds, silver and platinum…

Keishin sighed.

Ittetsu had told him ages ago that he wasn’t interested in marriage.

Ittetsu’s reasons made sense. Marriage was a social construct with a troubling history. It applied laws and norms to _love,_ something that was as vast and complex as the human experience itself.

Ittetsu believed in poetry, and courage, and lifelong love. Ittetsu did _not_ believe in marriage.

It was a conversation they’d had barely a year into dating, and Keishin had never had any reason to doubt it. He sighed and closed the window.

It was a silly fantasy, anyway.

Keishin finished his work and locked up the office. He stretched as he stepped out onto the gravel road and took in the view of the valley. The summer sun still shone high over the horizon, framed by little wisps of cloud. The world seemed perfect just how it was.

What did he even want to get married _for_?

He got into his car. He usually rode his bike to work, but today he’d driven so he wouldn’t mess up his nice clothes. Ittetsu had insisted on taking him out that night to celebrate their five-year anniversary. It fell on a Tuesday this year, which meant there’d be plenty of space at their favorite sushi place.

“ _Dress nice. I want it to be a night to remember,” Ittetsu had said that morning, far more suave than any man standing disheveled and half-asleep in his boxers had the right to be._

Keishin glanced in the rear-view mirror at the dust the car left behind him. Yeah, it had definitely been a good idea to drive.

Maybe he should just propose tonight. Just lay it all out there. He wondered what Ittetsu would think. Would he laugh? Would he want to know _why?_

It’s not like Keishin wanted kids. The high school team kept them plenty busy enough.

And it’s not like a wedding would give them any extra legal protections anyway. Until the government got its shit together and recognized gay marriage, it was all ceremony.

Maybe he just wanted the world to know.

No. It was silly.

They didn’t need this. Keishin shook his head. He was being stupid.

Keishin pulled up to the restaurant. Inside there were mostly empty tables. He recognized the few patrons that were in that night; Shimada and Takinoue and some of the guys from the neighborhood team were at one table in the corner, a few coworkers of Ittetsu's in another.

It was such a small town.

The bell on the door chimed as Ittetsu walked in. He was dressed in a nice button-up, his dress jacket draped over one arm to make the summer heat more bearable. He smiled apologetically, “Sorry I’m late, Keishin!”

Keishin smiled at the sight of him. “Yer fine. Just got here myself. You alright? You’re shaking a little.”

Ittetsu’s posture stiffened. “N-no! I’m fine. I just ah, you look good tonight. Shall we eat? I took the liberty of calling ahead and having a few things prepared for us already…”

The server took them to a table in the middle of the restaurant, lit softly by candles with a beautiful first course laid out and a bottle of expensive sake between them.

“Y’really pulled out all the stops!” Keishin grinned and poured the first glass of sake. “Careful, or I’m gonna start thinkin’ you like me.”

Ittetsu laughed and poured the second glass. “Well do I have news for you then. I uh, I do really like you.”

“Heh, I like you too. Wanna catch up on Midnight Diner when we get home?

Ittetsu smiled. “Yeah. Home is… actually what I wanted to talk to you about tonight. I wanted to thank you, for how amazing all of this time with you has been. Whenever I come home, I feel at peace. And whenever I’m with you, I feel like I could do anything.”

Heat spread to Keishin’s cheeks. “What is this all of a sudden? Y’could do anything you wanted, with or without me.”

Ittetsu shook his head. “No, _with_ you. What I want is to build a life with you. I want to make you the happiest man on earth.”

Keishin blinked. Ittetsu was standing up, then kneeling…

And now he was holding up a ring.

Ittetsu was still talking. “I’ve thought a lot about all the things marriage can mean. Some people talk about it as if it were a simple matter of fate, as if we’re tied by strings… But I don’t want to be bound. I want to weave the threads of life with yours. I want us to keep creating this tapestry together. I want to keep coming home to you. I want the blessing of everyone in our lives. I want to give you everything I have. I want to spend my life with you. Will you marry me?”

Everyone in the restaurant was standing around them. Keishin finally realized that they were all people they knew, that it was all planned.

“Yes!” Keishin practically shouted before he found himself choking up.

Phones were out and photos were being taken. Takinoue and Shimada were wiping tears off their faces. Keishin’s parents had made their way over from the back, wherever they’d been hiding. Ittetsu slipped the ring on his finger.

Keishin pulled Ittetsu into a kiss. Not for the whole world to see, but for everyone that mattered.

The ring fit perfectly.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I originally wrote this for ixiblitz’s birthday. Thanks for giving me the excuse, friend.


End file.
